(2003). Appreciative Inquiry. Trends and Issues Alert. Appreciative inquiry (AI) is based on the heliotropic principle, which has been variously described as art and science, holistic theory and practice, and practical philosophy and change process. AI engages people and organizations in discovering what gives life to human systems when they are most effective and constructive and using that knowledge to envision and create the preferred future. Instead of beginning with problems to be solved, AI uses a social constructivist view that reality is socially created. AI is rooted in multiple fields, including action research, organizational development, and chaos theory. The principles underlying AI are constructivism, simultaneity, poetics, anticipation, and the positive. The process of AI involves the following activities: (1) discover (talk to one another to identify exceptional/peak moments); (2) dream (envision what might be if the peak moments were the norm); (3) design (develop "provocative propositions" to achieve the… [PDF]
(2000). Metadata for Web Resources: How Metadata Works on the Web. This paper discusses bibliographic control of knowledge resources on the World Wide Web. The first section sets the context of the inquiry. The second section covers the following topics related to metadata: (1) definitions of metadata, including metadata as tags and as descriptors; (2) metadata on the Web, including general metadata systems, resource description, PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection) and other content controllers, the BizTalk and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) frameworks, and rights management; and (3) the resource description framework, including the future of XML (eXtensible Markup Language). The third section addresses issues related to the Dublin Core metadata standard, including degree of completeness, institutional support, implementation, extensibility rules, and difficulties with the creator and relation elements. This section also considers difficulties with the object-attribute model. The fourth section discusses the role of libraries in… [PDF]
(2001). Someone at School Has AIDS. 2001 Edition. This policy guide explains that every state and school district needs policies addressing serious issues raised by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Chapter 1, "Developing Policy," discusses why policies are valuable, at what level policy belongs, and whether policies should be specific to HIV. Chapter 2, "Policy Recommendations," presents a preamble (the state/district/school shall strive to protect the safety and health of children and youth in their care, as well as their families, school employees, and the general public, and staff members shall cooperate with the public health authorities to promote these goals). It goes on to present nine areas of focus: school attendance, employment, privacy, infection control, HIV and athletics, HIV prevention education, related services, staff development, and general provisions. Chapter 3, "Engaging the Community," focuses on: a proactive communications plan; educating the community; a crisis… [PDF]
(2000). Social Responsibility of Human Resource Development: How Our Definitions and Worldviews Impact Our Leadership Role. Town Forum. [Concurrent Town Forum Session at AHRD Annual Conference, 2000.]. The question of whether human resource development (HRD) should assume a leadership role in social responsibility has not been seriously or rigorously addressed in the HRD literature. As a multidisciplinary field, HRD is influenced not only by societal needs but also by underlying disciplines, including economics, psychology, general systems, ethics, and sociology. Both as an organizational function and as a stand-alone profession, HRD plays a principal role in enhancing organizations' long-term sustainability and has the potential to help cultivate organizations and people that positively influence communities, society, and the environment. The influence that economic and psychological theory have had on HRD and the world views that have influenced HRD require review and redefinition so that HRD professionals can clarify and improve their understanding of their potential contributions and responsibility to society. In the long run, those HRD professionals and academics who respond… [PDF]
(2000). The Impact of Digital Resources on Organization and Management of Collection Development and Acquisitions. This paper addresses organization and management issues related to library material selection and acquisitions in the digital age, based on the author's experiences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill library. The first part of the paper focuses on selection. The following principles of selection are discussed: (1) developing a balance of subject areas that reflect academic or community needs for information; (2) building collections with breadth and depth; (3) building collections cooperatively to preserve the record of human culture and achievement; (4) serving as a gateway and quality control agent for both print and electronic information; (5) eliminating selector cultural and/or political bias in building collections; and (6) organizing digital information to enable users to access it quickly and easily. The skills of the selector in the digital environment are also considered. The second part covers acquisitions, including areas where there is potential for… [PDF]
(1998). Educational Alliances, Property Rights and Trust: Issues of Transaction Costs in the Transfer of Credit. Using transaction-cost economics as a theoretical lens, this paper analyzes educational alliances, which are agreements between educational organizations, such as those between 2-year and 4-year colleges. Transaction costs are those costs associated with the movement of course-credit hours across different institutional environments. The report suggests that standard cost-benefit analyses, as offered by standard economic models, do not serve well the purposes associated with transfer and articulation and that decision-making processes affecting student transfers are foremost about cost minimization and not about student welfare. Part 1 of the paper discusses the Utah System of Higher Education's transfer policy and the decision-making parameters that influenced the formation of this policy. Part 2 provides a brief explanation of transaction-cost economics as outlined by Williamson. The paper focuses on state-level decision making and the creation of educational alliances, the… [PDF]
(1999). Character, Civility, and the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks: A Collection of Sample Units. Educating students about character development and responsibility can and should be an integral part of the academic curriculum. This collection contains units of study that were written to exemplify some of the many ways that these themes might be taught in preK-12 Massachusetts classrooms. Using the standards of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks as their core, these units explore the ethical dimensions of literary and artistic works, as well as incidents from history and contemporary life. According to the collection, each work is important in its own right, and each offers students, teachers, and parents a reason to talk about the expression of ideas, the dynamics of conflict and cooperation, and humanity's search for understanding of the meaning and purpose of life. Although the units are presented as separate entities in the collection, they would be most effective when used as part of a coordinated school program that involves parents and the community, and which is… [PDF]
(2007). Proceedings of the Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (31st, Seoul, Korea, July 8-13, 2007). Volume 1. International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education The first volume of the 31st annual proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education conference presents plenary lectures; research forums; discussion groups; working sessions; short oral communications; and posters from the meeting. Plenary lecture papers include: (1) On Humanistic Mathematics Education: A Personal Coming of Age? (Chris Breen); (2) Certainty, Explanation and Creativity in Mathematics (Michael Otte); (3) I Need the Teacher to Tell Me If I Am Right or Wrong (Anna Sierpinska); and (4) School Mathematics and Cultivation of Mind (Jeong-Ho Woo). Plenary panel papers include: (1) Introduction to the PME Plenary Panel, "School Mathematics for Humanity Education" (Koeno Gravemeijer); (2) Humanizing the Theoretical and the Practical for Mathematics Education (Cristina Frade); (3) Making Mathematics More Mundane–A Semiotic Approach (Willibald Dorfler); (4) Mathematics: A Human Potential (Martin A. Simon); and (4) Need for Humanising… [PDF]
(2007). Beyond Oppositional Thinking: Radical Respect. Philosophical Studies in Education, v38 p199-209. As a post-9/11 society in the United States, people live in a complex and pluralistic world that pushes to rethink how to approach education. People want to know what is right and good, but how to discern this in a world where consensual understandings of meaning are missing, even within the nation's borders? Those in the northern, and particularly western hemisphere, have defined what is good and true in relationship to how they understand their opposites. This is a view rooted in a western history of logic based on the Aristotelian principle of non-contradiction: One cannot have A and not A at the same time. John Dewey represents this view when he says humans like to think in duality, black/white, good/evil, or conservative/liberal. Dewey's assertion assumes duality is a universal basis for rational reflection. But this "forced choice" thinking is not necessarily benign; it can foster exclusionary social practices where people become pitted against each other, resulting… [PDF]
(1990). Electrophysiological Determinants of Cognitive Style: Implications for Educational and Psychological Research. Implications of two studies conducted by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) at the University of West Florida (Pensacola) regarding electrophysiological determinants of cognitive style (CS) are discussed. Most of the IHMC's research focuses on bimodal processing theory, according to which the human brain has at least two qualitatively different modes of thought: the analytic mode, which is logical, linear, and sequential and the holistic mode, which is simultaneous, parallel, or gestalt. The first study, conducted by B. R. Dunn and others in 1981, involved the use of expository texts that had a hierarchically organized logical semantic structure. The second study, conducted by B. R. Dunn and M. D. Reddix in 1984, involved having subjects read one highly holistic poem and one logical or analytical poem. Recordings of ongoing electroencephalographic (EEG) activity have been used at the IHMC to study global aspects of complex cognitive processes underlying the reading…
(1999). Moral Actions in Young Adulthood. National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition The connection between knowing the right or good thing to do, and then actually doing it has long been a puzzle. "Watch what we do, not what we say" goes beyond the revealing admission of a former Attorney General of the United States to the broader reality of human behavior. Parents, teachers, employers, religious educators, and society at large have a deep vested interest in understanding the relationship between, and in knowing how better to educate for, consistency in moral knowledge and behavior. The past twenty-five years have seen much productive research on the development of moral reasoning. Doing the right or good act now needs comparable study. The unique contribution of this book is its exploratory study of the connection between moral thinking and action. Research on this linkage is in its relative infancy. A key aim is to begin to throw light on what factors intervene between a person's moral judgment and subsequent action. Valuable–although… [PDF]
(1992). Transitions to Employment: Proceedings of the 1990 International Symposium on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (Washington, D.C., June 3-5, 1990). This document presents the proceedings of a symposium which discussed critical issues in employment of persons with disabilities in Europe, Australia, and North America. After introductions, the major presentations included the following: "Labor Market Forces" (Roderick A. DeArment, U.S. Department of Labor); "Civil Rights in the United States" (Steny Hoyer, U.S. House of Representatives); "Economic Consequences" (Martin Gerry, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services); and "Towards an Adult Working Life" (John Fish, Consultant to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). Small group discussions are summarized. These focused on personal choice, effective integration, and organizing and financing community services, respectively. The conference resulted in seven recommendations and conclusions including: (1) because of the lack of accurate information, audits are needed to establish databases on resources devoted to… [PDF]
(1987). A Compilation of Federal Education Laws: Volume II–Elementary and Secondary Education, Education of the Handicapped, and Related Programs. As Amended through December 31, 1986. The compilation provides the full texts of federal legislation related to elementary secondary education and education of the handicapped and related programs. The following statutes are included: \Act of November 2, 1921\ (Snyder Act); \Act of April 16, 1934\ (Johnson-O'Malley Act); \Adult Education Act\; \Allen J. Ellender Fellowship Program\; \Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, Title IV\; \Bilingual Education Act\; \Developmental Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, Section 204\; \Education Amendments of 1978, Title XI–Indian Education\; \Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981\; \Education for Economic Security Act\; \Education of the Deaf Act of 1986\; \Education of the Handicapped Act\; \Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965\; \Emergency Immigrant Education Act of 1984\; \Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949\; \Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986\; \Human Services Reauthorization Act (Title IX)\; \Indian Education Act\;… [PDF]
(1996). Women and Literacy: Definition of Literacy, the Causes and Manifestations of Illiteracy, and Implications for the Educator. In societies with rich oral traditions in which knowledge and wisdom are transmitted by way of mouth, through recitation, song and drama, the inability to read and write does not mean ignorance or lack of intelligence. Literacy is, however, essential for gaining legal and socioeconomic rights. Literacy campaigns should therefore involve changing the existing social, political, and economic structures. Literacy is also a women's issue. Although the world illiteracy rate has decreased from 44% in 1950 to 25% in 1990, the proportion of women in the world's total nonliterate population is increasing steadily (it had increased to 60% by 1980). Among the reasons for higher illiteracy rates among women are following: the technologies of goods production, the nature of human reproduction, and institutionalization of violence in the state. Literacy teachers working with women in developing countries must first convince women of their need for literacy. Women themselves should determine their… [PDF]
(1990). Agrarian Visions. A new feature in "Country Teacher,""Agrarian Visions" reminds rural teachers that they can do something about rural decline. Like to populism of the 1890s, the "new populism" advocates rural living. Current attempts to address rural decline are contrary to agrarianism because: (1) telecommunications experts seek to solve problems of rural education through interactive television; (2) proponents of rural economic development suggest that rural communities exploit themselves as cheap labor to draw processing or manufacturing plants to their communities to create jobs; (3) some economic development specialists advise schools to become entrepreneurs and create community-saving businesses, when schools do not have the capital to do so; and (4) "human capital theorists" encourage rural schools to create a workforce with the right numeracy, literacy, and social skills to make them attractive to entrepreneurial capitalists. American agrarianism is… [PDF]